第135章

"No, no, no, June!" said the latter; "not against your own husband, though my life be the penalty.""No hurt Arrowhead," returned June, with a slight shudder, "no hurt red man at all.No fire at 'em; only scare."Mabel now comprehended the intention of June, and no longer opposed it.The latter thrust the muzzle of the rifle through the loophole; and, taking care to make noise enough to attract attraction, she pulled the trigger.The piece had no sooner been discharged than Mabel reproached her friend for the very act that was intended to serve her.

"You declared it was not your intention to fire," she said, "and you may have destroyed your own husband.""All run away before I fire," returned June, laughing, and going to another loop to watch the movements of her friends, laughing still heartier."See! get cover -- every warrior.Think Saltwater and Quartermaster here.Take good care now.""Heaven be praised! And now, June, I may hope for a little time to compose my thoughts to prayer, that I may not die like Jennie, thinking only of life and the things of the world."June laid aside the rifle, and came and seated herself near the box on which Mabel had sunk, under that physi-cal reaction which accompanies joy as well as sorrow.She looked steadily in our heroine's face, and the latter thought that her countenance had an expression of severity mingled with its concern.

"Arrowhead great warrior," said the Tuscarora's wife.

"All the girls of tribe look at him much.The pale-face beauty has eyes too?""June! -- what do these words -- that look -- imply? what would you say?""Why you so 'fraid June shoot Arrowhead?""Would it not have been horrible to see a wife destroy her own husband? No, June, rather would I have died myself.""Very sure, dat all?"

"That was all, June, as God is my judge! -- and surely that was enough.No, no! there have been sufficient hor-rors to-day, without increasing them by an act like this.

What other motive can you suspect?"

"Don't know.Poor Tuscarora girl very foolish.Arrow-head great chief, and look all round him.Talk of pale-face beauty in his sleep.Great chief like many wives.""Can a chief possess more than one wife, June, among your people?""Have as many as he can keep.Great hunter marry often.Arrowhead got only June now; but he look too much, see too much, talk too much of pale-face girl."Mabel was conscious of this fact, which had distressed her not a little, in the course of their journey; but it shocked her to hear this allusion, coming, as it did, from the mouth of the wife herself.She knew that habit and opinions made great differences in such matters; but, in addition to the pain and mortification she experienced at being the unwilling rival of a wife, she felt an apprehension that jealousy would be but an equivocal guarantee for her personal safety in her present situation.A closer look at June, however, reassured her; for, while it was easy to trace in the unpractised features of this unsophisticated being the pain of blighted affections, no distrust could have tortured the earnest expression of her honest counte-nance into that of treachery or hate.

"You will not betray me, June?" Mabel said, pressing the other's hand, and yielding to an impulse of generous confidence."You will not give up one of your own sex to the tomahawk?""No tomahawk touch you.Arrowhead no let 'em.If June must have sister-wife, love to have you.""No, June; my religion, my feelings, both forbid it;and, if I could be the wife of an Indian at all, I would never take the place that is yours in a wigwam."June made no answer, but she looked gratified, and even grateful.She knew that few, perhaps no Indian girl within the circle of Arrowhead's acquaintance, could com-pare with herself in personal attractions; and, though it might suit her husband to marry a dozen wives, she knew of no one, beside Mabel, whose influence she could really dread.So keen an interest, however, had she taken in the beauty, winning manners, kindness, and feminine gentle-ness of our heroine, that when jealousy came to chill these feelings, it had rather lent strength to that interest; and, under its wayward influence, had actually been one of the strongest of the incentives that had induced her to risk so much in order to save her imaginary rival from the conse-quences of the attack that she so well knew was about to take place.In a word, June, with a wife's keenness of perception, had detected Arrowhead's admiration of Mabel;and, instead of feeling that harrowing jealousy that might have rendered her rival hateful, as would have been apt to be the case with a woman unaccustomed to defer to the superior rights of the lordly sex, she had studied the looks and character of the pale-face beauty, until, meeting with nothing to repel her own feelings, but everything to en-courage them, she had got to entertain an admiration and love for her, which, though certainly very different, was scarcely less strong than that of her husband's.Arrow-head himself had sent her to warn Mabel of the coming danger, though he was ignorant that she had stolen upon the island in the rear of the assailants, and was now in-trenched in the citadel along with the object of their joint care.On the contrary, he supposed, as his wife had said, that Cap and Muir were in the blockhouse with Mabel, and that the attempt to repel him and his companions had been made by the men.

"June sorry the Lily" -- for so the Indian, in her poeti-cal language, had named our heroine -- "June sorry the Lily no marry Arrowhead.His wigwam big, and a great chief must get wives enough to fill it.""I thank you, June, for this preference, which is not according to the notion of us white women," returned Mabel, smiling in spite of the fearful situation in which she was placed; "but I may not, probably never shall, marry at all.""Must have good husband," said June; "marry Eau-douce, if don't like Arrowhead."